Ravenous by Connolly MarcyKate

Author:Connolly, MarcyKate [Connolly, MarcyKate]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-12-17T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

THE SONZEEKI RISES FROM THE BLACK DEPTHS BEYOND THE CLIFF ALL three days of each full moon and floods the town if it doesn’t get the meal it desires. My deadline is tomorrow, at the height of it. I stand outside the barn and glance up at the sky, a tiny knot of fear forming in my heart. While last night’s rescue and the threat of the mercenaries is still fresh in my mind, nothing compares to the terror in the deep.

I must be quick. The bones of the child the witch left for us in the forest dance in front of my eyes. No one deserves to have their children eaten by the witch. The Belladomans didn’t deserve what Ensel did to them either. But I can’t change that, and now the witch has taken two more of their children—because I can’t find the cornucopia fast enough. This may have begun as a mission to rescue my brother, but it’s quickly ballooning to include so many others. It’s an unexpected responsibility.

Earlier today the map sent me to a crumbling old church graveyard at the edge of the city. Once again, all I found was an empty hiding spot. Now, I steel my nerves as I enter the tunnels, tapping the marked brick and slab in the correct order. According to the map, this—the last of the hiding spots on my list—is deep in the secret tunnels, somewhere only Ensel and his closest henchmen knew about.

Dalen’s task in the late-afternoon gloom is to find a cairn on the top of a mountain and look underneath. This morning he had to trudge through a swamp to check a tiny island. Ensel was annoyingly thorough in his methods of concealing the cornucopia.

A cool mist clings to the air in the city today, the pale afternoon sun fading by the minute. I must hurry. Just to be safe. These tunnels, while infinitely useful, still give me chills. Walking into them is like passing through a thick wall of foreboding. I shut the hidden door behind me, sealing myself in. A strike of a match lights the small torch I carry. A quick check of the map gives me direction, and then I’m on my way.

The mist follows me into the tunnel, and the walls are coated with a thick layer of black sludge that shines in the torchlight. It’s cold, and my damp hair clings to my scalp and face as I pull my new cloak close. I’m grateful Dalen had the presence of mind to pack a couple of extra, especially after the oversized one I swiped from the palace burned up last night. I’d be freezing without it. The fog makes it more difficult than usual to see my way, but I’ve traveled these tunnels enough in the past week not to step in any holes. The smell is foul. Fish and rot and decay, all preserved by the brine of the ocean. I use my free hand to put a section of my cloak over my mouth and breathe through the fabric instead.

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